"I had told them, 'Don't go in my yard, wait until I get there,' " the father recounted. "The officers were badgering him through the wall."

At one point, he said, the dispatcher told him that his son had shot at the police, and the police had returned fire.

He said no one else aside from the dispatcher has told him his son fired a weapon.

The police statement said the man died at the scene and no officer was injured. The statement did not mention if any weapon was found at the scene.

Downey police said the California Department of Justice is handling the investigation into the shooting. The Department of Justice typically investigates police shootings when the victim did not have a weapon.

The state Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Arenas' father said the Downey police knew his son, who he said had a felony conviction, and was aware he struggled with mental illness. He said his son had been improving lately, recently landing a promising job with a company that makes medical supplies and taking care of his two children, a 9-month-old and a 2-year-old.

The father said, in his opinion, there was "nothing to stop" officers from walking away from the home that night.

"When you know the history of someone who has a mental illness, don't badger them," he said. "There's nothing that's going to bring my son back."

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